Pelagic Deposits
What are pelagic deposits?
Ocean deposits usually consist of unconsolidated sediments, which can come from various sources, and are deposited at the ocean floor. Thickness of these deposits vary greatly from one ocean to another (Fig.1). Ocean deposits can be differentiated on the basis of their composition, source, method of transit, and mode of distribution.
The components of ocean deposits can be transported by rivers, winds, volcanic eruptions, and marine organisms, both plants and animals can also contribute to the transportation and deposit of ocean deposits. According to the characteristics of ocean depth, ocean deposits can be classified as pelagic deposits, and terrigenous deposits.
While terrigenous deposits at mostly the shallower depths can include deposits of mud, sand, gravel, and volcanic materials, derived from denudation of continental rocks, pelagic deposits can consist of organic material in the form of marine plants and animals as well as inorganic material. Pelagic deposits can cover about 75.5 per cent of ocean areas in the form of many types of oozes in a sporadic mix in most cases with other types of ocean deposits. Of the total ocean deposits, red clay covers 31.1 per cent of the ocean floor (Sirisha P., 2017). Pelagic Zone consists four major zones classified according to depth i.e Epipelagic zone, Mesopelagic zone, Bathypelagic zone and Abyssopelagic zone